Gates of Heaven

[FilmFan720]

As someone who loves this film, and has it on his personal favorite films list, I feel obliged to chime in a little (especially because I believe I am responsible for OG watching the film in the first place).

rainBard captured the film pretty well, but I find this film endlessly watchable and fascinating. It raises many existential questions (as rainBard so eloquently put), but does so without ever pushing ideas and questions down the viewer's throat like many other documentaries do. Errol Morris, as a filmmaker, has an amazing way of capturing humans in their own personal moment and draws great thoughts from them. This is Morris at his best. There are so many classic characters and moments that populate this film, from the old lady on the porch whose 10 minute monologue keeps contradicting her own statements, to the various grieving pet owners, to that amazing last moment with the electric guitar in the graveyard. All of them come together into one gorgeous meditation on life, death, meaning and humanity. I find it not only moving and thought-provoking, but also a joy to watch. It is filled with real laughs.

It also probably doesn't hurt that I first saw the film at Ebertfest, with Roger Ebert and Errol Morris discussing the film before and after the screening. Werner Herzog was also sitting a few rows behind me, who is of course famously responsible for Morris making the film and ate his shoe at an early screening of the film.

[rain Bard]

I haven't seen it in ages, though I expect to rewatch it later this fall.

From my understanding of the context of the film and its reception, it's not acclaimed because its subject matter is so ground-shakingly important, or because it's any kind of technological leap forward. I don't believe it launched major reform in pet cemeteries or changed the methods of documentarians working in the field at the time.

What Gates of Heaven may represent historically could be tied to the fact that it didn't do either of these things, yet was a highly successful film nonetheless. Morris was not an experienced filmmaker, nor a serious journalist, but was instead a smart cinephile with a desire to make a first film one way or another. By turning a camera on a corner of the world deemed unworthy of attention by filmmakers hunting for the next Titicut Follies or Hearts and Minds or Harlan County U.S.A., managing to create a poignant portrait of a segment of Americana, that opened up onto wider, more existential questions than might be expected, Morris broke ground, especially in an age when few documentaries achieved theatrical releases.

Gates of Heave might be seen as a sort of godfather to films like American Movie, King of Kong and even Man on Wire- they tackle seemingly frivolous subjects but become popular with audiences becase they're well-made, entertaining, and seem to contain more depth than apparent on first glance. It's not a particularly popular strain of filmmaking for Oscar, which in the documentary category especially wants to announce how much its doing to make the world a better place.



Edited By rain Bard on 1221771271

[Big Magilla]

Not me. I never had any interest in seeing this film.

[OscarGuy]

Ok. I just sent this one back to Netflix after having watched it last night. Now, I'll preface by saying that I don't care much for documentaries.

Can someone please tell me why this is so highly praised? Other than its lack of narration, allowing the people involved to tell their stories, there isn't terribly much here that seems exciting or interesting. I'll admit I teared up when he was going through the tombstone tributes, but that was it. None of the rest of the film really impacted me emotionally, so I'm not so sure what exactly people like Roger Ebert love about it.

Can someone please tell me what I'm not getting and what historical impact it really had?